It is the end of August and the sun is blistering hot. Yet Malta’s roads seem to be congested as they always are.

Everywhere you look, there are works going on. Some examples include Naxxar, Msida, Ta Xbiex, Qormi and many other localities.

One would think that at this time of the year, works would be moved to night time – but they are not. In the blistering heat of day – at noon and well into the hot afternoon hours, workers toil on various projects ranging from road rebuilding to watering flowers in central strips and flood relief projects.

And it begs the question – why is work on these projects being carried out at the busiest times of day? Why are they not taking place at night like most other places in Europe and the Western world.

Let us forget the problems it causes to Joe Citizen, just for the moment, and focus on the workers who are involved. Come 10am, the heat stress and UV index goes through the roof until about 5 or 6pm. Is it fair, first of all, for these workers to be subjected to such harsh and scorching conditions?

About five years ago, the government of the time set out new regulations whereby public sector employees on duty in the sun were to be equipped with sun hats, sun screen and could only work certain times of the day in the scorching sun.

But, that all seems to have gone out of the window  and sometimes it is the workers’ faults for being too macho.

But again... why are works not carried out in the evening or at night, when there is no sun and there is much lighter traffic on the roads? Is it because employers do not want to pay an allowance for work carried out outside ‘office’ hours?

The solution is a very simple one. Extensive roadwork projects should be carried out at night. This would alleviate the strain on people who are put in the position of having to work in the sun, as well as cushioning the impact on traffic flows. One must point out that work is sometimes carried out at night, but it is normally restricted to the painting of road markings or projects which are in effect on a 24 hour basis.

And now back to the humble Joe Citizen. In the absence of any semblance of an adequate and efficient public transport system, people continue to be forced into using their cars, day after day, to get to work or to carry out errands. The roads remain terrible, and it seems to be a modus operandi of carrying out as much as possible during peak hours while the kids are off school. It really is a sorry state of affairs, yet, it never seems to change and there never seems to be any will to change it... irrespective of the government in power.